Yahoo, Nokia ink mobile alliance: Will it matter?
Yahoo and Nokia on Monday unveiled a global mobile alliance designed to compete against Apple's iPhone and Android powered devices.
With services, devices and operating systems becoming increasingly intertwined in the mobile industry, Nokia and Yahoo risked being left out of the integration party. The fix: Join forces to be big players on the global stage.
According to a statement, the moving parts of the Yahoo-Nokia alliance go like this:
- Nokia will provide Yahoo's maps and navigation services. Nokia's Ovi Maps will be used across Yahoo properties.
- Yahoo will be the global provider of Nokia's Ovi Mail and Ovi Chat.
- The two parties will work to federate their ID service in select areas.
In the U.S., the impact of this partnership will be minimal since Nokia isn't much of a player. However, Yahoo could use the Nokia partnership for scale on the global stage. After all, Nokia is still the top smartphone dog globally, but it is feeling the squeeze from Apple and Research in Motion.
Yahoo-Nokia co-branded services will be available in the second half of 2010 and be globally available in 2011. Kara Swisher at AllThingsD first reported the Yahoo-Nokia partnership last week.